County players and staff show support for Organ Donation charity "Believe"

Mike Flynn, Wayne Hatswell and the entire first team squad watched the short film at the Newport Velodrome yesterday learning all about Organ Donation and the benefits it can have. (See photos in the gallery above).

Anna-Louise Bates set up the Believe: Organ Donation Support charity after her husband Stuart and seven-year-old son Fraser were fatally struck by a car in December 2015. She has been working with Mike Young, the Welshman and prolific animation producer behind iconic 80s children’s show ‘SuperTed’ and the more recent ‘Norm of the North’, to create an animated film to help spread the charity’s message.

She said at the event yesterday: “I met one of the directors of Newport County AFC some 18 months ago when I attended the ‘Match for Life’ where Simon Keith came over as one of the world’s longest surviving heart transplant recipients.

"They invited me to come back to speak to the players and see what the club could do about promoting our new animation and helping it to reach young people.”

The short film, scripted by Anna-Louise and voiced by two local Cardiff schoolchildren in English and Welsh, shows an animated version of the Believe charity mascot, Fraser Bear - the nickname Anna-Louise and Stuart had given to their son - explaining how his organs have gone on to save the lives of four people.

The charity’s aim is for the animated film to be made available as a teaching resource to all primary schools in Wales, in an attempt to de-stigmatise the subject of organ donation and get young children and their families talking about it.

Welsh and English versions of the animation have been produced and are available to view on the Believe YouTube channel, here.

The Health Secretary, Vaughan Gething said: “This film is a demonstration of Anna Louise’s commitment to encourage families to discuss organ donation following her own family’s tragedy and grief. Creating a film for children informing them about organ donation is an excellent way to get such an important message across and I’m delighted to support the Fraser Bear animation project. I believe it will help encourage everyone across Wales to have the chat with their loved ones about their organ donation decisions.”

To buy a ‘Fraser Bear’ or find out more information about the Believe: Organ Donation Support charity, click here.